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Nowhere to run: 1 in 10 in Moore had storm shelters

Picture this: You’re relaxing at home on a Sunday afternoon about half past five, when you hear the sirens wail: tornado warning. You look to the west, but you don’t see a funnel cloud—just a towering black curtain across your field of view, like a big thunderstorm. You peer into the darkness. As the screen of rain pushes past you, the sky lightens. But then you hear the sound: a rumble, a roar, like an enormous freight train. Trees start to thrash around, shingles fly off a nearby roof, and you realize: “It’s a tornado. It’s a big tornado. It’s a—huge—tornado.”

The story was similar in Joplin, Mo. where there also weren't storm-shelter requirements and a 2011 tornado leveled large areas of the town, killing 160.

Tornadoes aren't going anywhere, either. The infamous strip of the United States known as Tornado Alley is actually growing. The "New Tornado Alley" stretches into southeastern states such as Georgia and Florida.

Not surprisingly, demand for storm shelters has already shot up. Brad Webb of Stormsaferooms.com told USA Today that his phone has been blowing up since the Moore tragedy. His above-ground safe rooms are designed and tested to withstand 250-mph winds and debris.

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